duckzin writes: "Well the article just proves what we all know, Vistas changes on security don't worth a penny and Microsoft not looking at this breach as a problem just proves another thing, they must like having their OS hacked...

Well, they might, they make pretty good money when they launch a service pack, we should start a pool to see how long will vista last without a S.P., I would say 6 months...

Anyone who have ever used a Linux desktop and now Vista can see that MS didn't have any original ideas, except for that search engine, and worst, using the google gadget idea, was just... uhhh...

Unix
Staroffice
Netscape

and now Google, but I don't think google will fail to compete with MS, they are even putting their own office on the market for 50$ per computer...

The new resource is still small (only about 3200 articles, many weak and with gaps in coverage such as having an entry for mathematical "crisp sets" but not for "sets"), and understandably endorses religious and conservative points of view. But the encyclopedia also undercuts the search for knowledge with statements such as "But historical facts, or their absence, are irrelevant since we all know He existed. Historical sources and scientific facts are unnecessary," in the entry for Jesus (http://www.conservapedia.com/Christ), and bizarre anti-science entries (http://scienceblogs.com/goodmath/2007/02/conserva pedia_and_math_1.php).

motherball writes: "Will hardware manufacturers and the movie industry stop at nothing to fight the consumer? An article in EDN mentions that newer TVs deliberately do not include the common HDMI connector but instead have the HDCP (high-bandwidth digital content-protection) connector which is intended to make it impossible to hook up your PC to your TV and render 1080p! Who stands to gain from this? Doesn't the consumer (I hate that word) have any rights?"

dido writes: "The Mainichi Daily News reports that the incidence of cybercrime in Japan has increased 40% in 2006 from the previous year, including incidences of online fraud, phishing, and Internet-assisted child prostitution. From the article: 'Police departments across the country cracked down on a record 4425 cybercrimes in 2006. A total of 1597 cases involved online fraud, accounting for 36.1% of the total and was up 13.4% from the previous year. In 703 cases, the suspects illegally accessed websites using other people's ID and passwords, up a hefty 153.8 percent from 2005.'"

Fennec writes: "Amazon.com has launched a beta of a new service called Askville, yet another online answers service, flavored with "Experience Points, Levels, and Quest Coins." These coins will supposedly become useful some day on another Amazon service that's not actually open yet, Questville. If this virtual currency becomes useful, could Askville fill a place between strictly volunteer systems and pay-for-answer services like the now-defunct Google Answers? Or is it destined to fail in the already-saturated online Q&A market?"

An anonymous reader writes: silicon.com is running a two-part column on the 10 best and 10 worst things about Cupertino — and it would seem Steve Jobs' latest magic trick is the ability to create products that are simultaneously Mitchell and Webb... Take the iPod — it's apparently blessed with "usability and simplicity". Yet has also "long been dogged by accusations of dodgy battery life, defective mechanics, easily scratched or cracked screens and a general lack of longevity"... Or the iPhone — a flagrant example of 'style over substance', says writer Seb Janacek, before really sticking the boot in: "A clutch of mobile devices have been offering the same services for the last year or so at a fraction of the price. And it doesn't arrive for another six months or so. And when it does there will be just one operator to choose from. The latest example of Steve Jobs snake oil?"... But wait! "The gloriously sexy iPhone was worth the wait"... gushes the same author... "Apple spent two and a half years developing a device that makes the usual phone functions, MP3 playing and internet browsing work as a whole"... Confused? It seems Steve Jobs is not the only one guilty of a 'reality distortion field'...

khendron writes: "The Canadian online music store Puretracks (a store I have generally avoided because of their Microsoft specific solutions) has announced that it will immediately start selling part of its catalog as DRM-free mp3 files. The site's unprotected catalog, which includes artists such as The Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan, will initially feature only 50,000 of its 1.3 million tracks, but will grow weekly.

More also from the Globe and Mail. If this endeavour is successful, maybe we will see the larger music labels jumping on board."

An anonymous reader writes: "...tipsters well placed at Apple informed MacScoop that the company is preparing to make the fight harder for its competitors of the Windows world with several Mac hardware releases scheduled for calendar Q2." [...] "a black version of the iMac could make its way with the next update of the company's all-in-one consumer desktop Macs." Full article here. Just a rumor though.

Megnatron writes: Penny Arcade has a letter from the stepmother of one of the kids who was recently charged with killing a homeless guy, defending the parents, and, in a refreshing twist, the games industry.